Spoilers for Episode 3 of Poker Face Season 2 are forward! Meet up with a Peacock subscription.
As Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale roams round the USA in Poker Face, unintentionally working into homicide after homicide, she’s launched to an unbelievable forged of characters performed by equally unbelievable actors. Up to now, Season 2 has proven us Cynthia Erivo taking part in 5 sisters, Giancarlo Esposito portraying a funeral residence proprietor, and so many extra. Nonetheless, the efficiency I wish to spotlight didn’t come from somebody you’d doubtless consider as an actor first; it got here from comic John Mulaney.
That’s proper, John Mulaney gave the standout efficiency in Poker Face’s first three episodes of the season that’s presently airing on the 2025 TV schedule, and it made me notice he actually ought to act much more.
John Mulaney Confirmed Off A Complete New Facet Of Himself In Poker Face
Initially, every part I like about John Mulaney’s comedy is on show in his episode of Poker Face. His timing is impeccable, and a few of his traces in “Whack-a-Mole” had me doubling over with laughter. These lip-reading sequences? The bit the place he tries to make a take care of Charlie after he misplaced? Hilarious! General, he was in a position to play right into a bunch of his comedic strengths as FBI agent Daniel Clyde-Otis.
Nonetheless, his efficiency was a lot greater than that. Daniel Clyde-Otis is a rat, mole and snake, as Charlie put it, who’s working as a double agent. Watching Mulaney play either side of this agent as he tried to cover his work for Rhea Perlman’s crime boss Beatrix Hasp from his colleagues and associates, like Simon Helberg’s Luca Clark, was fascinating and nuanced.
Daniel was an fascinating character as a result of he each seemingly cared for folks like Luca whereas additionally being heartless and ruthless at instances. That’s no straightforward half to play. And Mulaney did it in a manner that each highlighted his signature humorousness whereas additionally creating a three-dimensional and sophisticated character who in the end ended up being the most important dangerous of the episode.
Now, I Want John Mulaney To Act Extra
I absolutely notice John Mulaney has acted fairly a bit earlier than this. He guest-starred on The Bear in a really memorable episode, and he’s a five-timer on Saturday Evening Dwell. Plus, he has a reasonably intensive catalog of voice work that features Massive Mouth, Puss in Boots: The Final Want and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Nonetheless, I (and I’d assume many others) consider Mulaney as a slapstick comedian first. So, his appearing roles really feel like enjoyable little pop-ups right here and there.
Nonetheless, Poker Face confirmed me that this man ought to act far more than he presently does.
As a lot as I love seeing All people’s Dwell with John Mulaney thrive, and I’ll re-watch his stand-up with my Netflix subscription no less than every year, I actually wish to see him play another person extra typically.
This Peacock thriller present let him play on a very new playground, and I completely beloved it. As I discussed earlier, he introduced that A+ timing and clever humor we all know and love. Nonetheless, he additionally blended in some dramatic aptitude and nuance that made Daniel Clyde-Otis an enchanting character to observe.
So, Rian Johnson, let’s get Mulaney within the subsequent Knives Out Thriller if there may be one. Or, actually, any director who’s studying this, please forged this comic in additional roles that permit him to point out off his vary as a performer. He completely killed it (pun meant) in Poker Face, and I wish to see him on our screens as new characters simply as typically as we see him as himself, the wildly gifted comic.